A Salt Lake man was trapped in his bedroom and burned to death in a house fire Monday. It was the city's first fire fatality of the year.
Lance Lavalley, 38, was sitting upright in his bed and was burned beyond recognition when firefighters reached him in the smoke-filled, double-story structure at 764 E. Hawthorne Ave. (540 South), said Salt Lake Fire Capt. Jeff Stansfield.The medical examiner's office was conducting an autopsy on Lavalley Tuesday. Fire investigators worked until the early morning hours to determine the cause of the blaze, Stansfield said.
The fire doesn't appear to be suspicious at this point, Stansfield said. But investigators won't rule anything out or release the cause of the fire until the medical examiner determines a cause of death, he said.
Lavalley moved in just before Christmas, according to neighbors. He often talked about his plans to remodel the 60-year-old house. Stansfield said investigators weren't able to locate any smoke alarms inside.
"It's really a common theme . . . that people who get injured or killed in fires don't have smoke alarms," he said. "Of the three fire deaths last year, one house had a smoke detector but there were no batteries in it, and in the other two incidents, there weren't any detectors at all."
Monday's fire was called in by a neighbor about 3:30 p.m. and damage, estimated at $25,000, was contained mostly to the man's bedroom. Stansfield said the man lived alone and no one else was injured in the blaze.
Heavy smoke poured out of the eaves and a window near the bedroom when firefighters arrived. Fire crews contained the blaze in about 15 minutes. Homicide investigators were also on scene, a common procedure when a fire death occurs.